A Gingrich-Santorum nonaggression pact?

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

01/05/2012 12:17 PM EST

Two sources confirmed that there have been discussions within Newt Gingrich's camp about forging a nonaggression pact with Rick Santorum at the debates, though it wasn't immediately clear whether one had been reached or that the teams had discussed it.

Such a pact would benefit both of them and potentially be problematic for Mitt Romney. However, while it has been discussed as a potential strategy in Gingrichland, one Santorum adviser professed ignorance of it.

That doesn’t mean that Gingrich won’t ding Santorum from time to time, it seems. POLITICO’s Ginger Gibson reports that Gingrich described the former Pennsylvania senator as a “junior partner” when he was asked by a voter at a town hall, in a reference to Santorum’s political résumé.

"If you look at the total level of experience, I think I am substantially more experienced than Rick Santorum at actually running a very large government operation," he said.